The Perils of Feminism, Subjective Reasoning, and Dualism

I am not a Feminist. I am not a proponent of Feminism. My refusal to identify as one usually draws a strong emotional reaction from other women – a reaction of indignation.

Women that identify as feminists have berated me, given me historical lectures, and glared down their noses at me with outright disdain. Some might assume it’s because I’m of Asian descent, supposedly submissive to the whims of men. My boyfriend was at an intercambio (a language exchange) recently when three women confronted him with this very stereotype. I’ll quote his response: “My girlfriend is Asian, and she is definitely NOT submissive!”

I do not identify with contemporary Feminists because contemporary Feminism is illogical, and as a contemporary social movement it fights for nothing worthwhile. Feminists have become advocates for bad health, victimhood, “Rape Culture”, and conformity. They are quick to pounce on any who point out that being obese is unhealthy – a reality-denying stance they call “Fat Acceptance”. Any man who dares state a sexual preference for non-overweight women instantly becomes a target to be shamed. Does this mean that any woman who expresses her preference for an athletic man with a six-pack is also sexist? Is a woman who has consensual sex, but later decides to reclassify the experience after feeling regret, really a victim of rape?

The answer is no. And no.

And as for conformity, their seems to be an expectation for women to support the movement, or be dismissed as hapless victims of The Patriarchy. Men who fail to hop aboard the bandwagon are labelled “misogynist”, “narcissist”, or another pejorative.

Will some Feminists attack me and my reputation online via social media? Will the so-called leaders of the more radical Feminist wing sic their followers on me? Will some resort to name-calling, repudiate and dismiss my words in attempts to squash any dissension from or criticism of Feminism?

Perhaps.

When high-profile females have questioned or defied Feminist orthodoxy, we have seen the outrage they are met with. Feminist pundits are incensed and thirst for blood, demanding all dissent be squashed and all dissenters (especially women) be punished and met with shame for their crimes against “the sisterhood”. All must tremble before the altar of Feminism and despair!

Perhaps I am not even worth the standard treatment. I hold no position of so-called authority, am taking a sabbatical from work, and recently moved to Spain. I say, “Here kitty kitty. Come get some.” Why?

I’m outraged by Feminists’ ridiculous behavior, their moral superiority, and I find their justifications absurd.

When did contemporary Feminism become about the glorification of women, the demonization and subjugation of men, and the reactionary shaming of any who disagree? Why are modern Feminists behaving no differently than sexist men? Why do Feminists display such narcissism and open prejudice against males?

The absurdity that is modern Feminism is not completely their own fault. Society and culture have taken the pea out from under the mattress without considering how pampering demanding Princesses turns them into spoiled and selfish Queens. When you reflexively give in to others’ whims, they will only take your appeasement for granted, unrelenting in their demands for more. Unfortunately, women are taught to rely upon their emotions instead of logic to deal with challenges that arise. Women are told over and over that they are mere emotional creatures, and as a result they respond with subjective reasoning rather than objective logic.

Subjective reasoning is thought of by some as a feminine emotional way of rationalisation. I will refer to feminine emotional rationalisation as ‘subjective reasoning’. The central tenet of subjective reasoning is thus: the belief that the morality of an act stems not from its objective merits, but from the emotional feeling produced within the actor. So some women conclude that if it feels good, it is right. If it feels bad, it is wrong. And if it feels otherwise, they think “It’s probably right, but I’ll have to wait and see… because most likely it’s wrong.” They remain blissfully unaware of the contradiction. And men, of course, also use subjective reasoning, so this kind of flawed thinking is not gender-specific.

Is subjective reasoning Nature or Nurture? It is both, accompanied by the Pavlovian brainwashing of being told these things repeatedly. Subjective reasoning seems to dominate contemporary Feminist responses to everything they take issue with. Their use of ‘feelings’ to justify anything they say and do makes it hard for this logical female to take contemporary Feminism seriously. Contemporary Feminism condones sexist attitudes, thoughts and behaviors. Contemporary Feminists dehumanize, subjugate and objectify heterosexual men.

What if Masculinism were to become a social movement?

Feminists would be apoplectic. They would cynically shriek about the male evils supposedly perpetrated against womankind for millenia. One can only imagine the shrill note they would strike as they warned of the dire consequences a male empowerment movement would bring.

What, what?

Contemporary Feminists already rail against empowered men, whom they refer to as the dreaded Patriarchy. But how is it fair, or helpful to anyone, when Feminists blatantly commit the same sins they have for so long intoned against? ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’, as the saying goes. Any position of moral authority is only undermined if the holder embraces an eye-for-an-eye stance of vengeance. Someone, somewhere, is reading my words and thinking “That poor misguided woman. Doesn’t she understand that men deserve this? The Patriarchy is evil! Look at how bad it makes women feel about themselves!”

The truth is, only -you- can make -you- feel bad about yourself.

Let’s recall those childhood sayings, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” and “I’m rubber and you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” Feminists and people in general would be wise to remember this, instead of wasting so much energy striving to punish others, when we have only ourselves to blame. An outwardly projected emotional response of your feelings, in reaction to what others say and do, is completely illogical. You can’t control what others do, but you can control what you do. And I say, apart from defending yourself from physical violence, the best reaction is to practice tolerance and learn to react with indifference. Contemporary Feminists and their ridiculous man-hating statements, as well as sexist men and their equally ridiculous woman-hating statements, should be completely ignored. What both want is a reaction – any reaction will suffice. Do not react, encourage others to do the same, and those trolls lose their power eventually losing interest. Think of them as children who throw temper tantrums; any reaction will only encourage their behavior.

If you are sitting there composing a mental response that includes suffrage, women’s working rights, or female circumcision to prove why feelings should control what others say and do, please just stop. Those -were- real issues in the United States. Suffrage won women the right to vote, but how many women exercise that right today? Women now dominate work places, so how are they oppressed when they’re more likely to be hired than a man with similar credentials? And aren’t the days of Kellogg and his crackpot ideas of masturbation prevention for both sexes by circumcision now past? For women, yes. For men, genital mutilation is still widely practiced to this day, so who is really suffering from that injustice?

Today contemporary Feminists focus on first-world problems that are not true injustices. A man saying he prefers to date women who weighs under 120-lbs is a manufactured issue; he’s expressing a preference, just as women do when they say they want a man who’s not bald. Students feeling “uncomfortable” about a fellow student discussing current rape statistics – in a class about a Greek mythological figure that was raped – Did that student really deserve to be expelled from the class? Perhaps the offended students that complained should think twice about studying Greek Mythology and avoid it like the plague, because they’ll likely be further offended by how many times Zeus can’t keep it in his toga. Feminists want a different set of standards for female firefighters, but if a woman can’t carry a two-hundred pound man out of a burning building in a timely manner, she should choose a different profession. I don’t want the standards altered so women can feel better about themselves. Women in the military? The ones who want to be, are. On the front line? Does any sane person really want to be there?

I see contemporary man-hating Feminists as they are: sadly misguided, their perspective distorted by their own prejudices, their reactions perverted by fear. To them, a world with men is a terrifying place, fraught with danger and degradation. Today’s Feminist rage is a shrill cacophony that diminishes the entire movement.

Contemporary Feminists ought to stop complaining and attacking others, and instead do something that will truly make the world a better place for everyone. Sitting at a computer using social media to shame others, or blogging about how unjust the world is for women, is a far cry from taking meaningful action on issues that really matter. What can you do to help that starving homeless person you stepped over and ignored while tweeting/posting/blogging on your mobile phone? What can we do about the Bureau of Public Land Management selling off our public lands designated as wilderness to private corporations, intent on turning our natural resources into their own private profits? What can we do to remove the capitalistic bent out of education, healthcare and public services such as the U.S. Postal Service and improve upon them? What can each us do to treat others as we would like to be treated?

Blatant Feminist prejudice against and the persecution of heterosexual men are acceptable today, because women have been trained to reason emotionally and rationalise with their feelings. We must first recognise the problem with subjective reasoning – feelings are not synonymous with reality. With subjective reasoning, everything is personal, and feelings become the arbiters of debate. In discussions and arguments, contemporary Feminists commit doublethink – Orwell’s term for holding two contradictory statements to each be true. And contemporary Feminism seems to be stuck in a Junior High School mentality, while riding an emotional roller coaster called Vengeance Shall Be Hers.

Everyone agrees, sexist men and Feminists aside, the equality of the sexes is important. But the question should not be, “How do we make the sexes equal?” A question we should all ask ourselves is, “Do logic and emotion, have a gender?” Logic and emotion are present in all human beings, not merely in men or women. The tendency of a gender to favor one over the other is a general tendency, not an absolute one. But Feminists have presently eschewed objective logic in favor of subjective reasoning, and this style of rationalisation pervades U.S. culture and used as a tool, to influence the thought processes of many women.

Now subjective reasoning is used in almost every arena where objective logic is actually needed. This simple flaw in thinking leads to all kinds of injustices occurring daily throughout the United States. Take the example of a police officer shooting a black suspect, and justifying the deed by saying “I feared for my life.” The officer, appeals not to objective evidence, but to their feelings to justify the act. Although the police officer may not realise their applied subjective reasoning, their actions show their style of reasoning through emotions is similar to that of contemporary Feminists. Another example is the U.S. government’s decision to bail out Wallstreet. Instead of administering the law, our government “felt” that the bailout was needed or our entire economy would collapse. Yet, there was no evidence to support that feeling, but there was ample evidence of Wallstreet’s corruption and many lives destroyed as a result of that greed.

The United States is not the only country suffering the perils of subjective reasoning and the destruction left in its wake. My new home Spain, and many other countries, are suffering grave injustices that are rationalised by using subjective reasoning as well. With history as our teacher, we human beings should be able to learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately what history shows us, is that subjective reasoning in conjunction with Dualism is the root of all ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and a cause of suffering and despair. And when contemporary Feminism and Feminists, cease to utilise a value-based ways of thinking of men and women in conjunction with subjective reasoning, they will no longer be one of the causes of despair and suffering. When human beings cease to utilise labels and apply a value to everyone and everything, we will no longer be a cause of our own despair and suffering.

I am not a Feminist. I am not a proponent of Feminism. I’ll share a quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, slightly modified in non-sexual and non-dualistic terms:

“Ism’s, in my opinion, are illogical. One should not believe in an ‘ism,’ one should simply believe in oneself.”